


Topanga

by suecsit



Category: Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid
Genre: M/M, post Aisha, post Bert I and II, post Cobra Kai finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 07:32:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14765291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suecsit/pseuds/suecsit
Summary: In which Daniel and Johnny reclaim their favorite summer beach and make an important decision.





	Topanga

**Author's Note:**

> This is another chapter in the "Bert" universe of stories. It follows some weeks after the events of "Aisha." Please read these stories in order if you can, but it won't kill you if you don't.
> 
> I know that the beach scene in the original Karate Kid wasn't supposed to be at Topanga State Park (it was filmed at Leo Carillo State Beach a little west of there), but with my love for Cobra Kai, I wanted to connect this story to the other dojo from the tournament.

“Topanga”

It was Daniel’s job to find more board members for the upcoming All Valley tournament in 2019. There were two openings, and they had to be filled before July when the group met for the first meeting of the new fiscal year.

He asked Johnny to fill one of the spots because he missed him. Daniel had spent the first four weeks of summer seeing or talking to Johnny through other people, mainly teenagers. And while such indirect conversations were amusing to students like Aisha, they didn’t fill the ache that Daniel felt when he traced the lines on Amanda’s palm just before he fell asleep at night. It was almost like Daniel was invoking a transitive property of touch, thinking that if he only could bring that sensation back to his fingertips then Johnny would reappear on his back patio, standing with weight on both feet, looking ready to attack.

Only this time Daniel would never let him leave.

When Daniel dropped Aisha off at Cobra Kai on yet another night (the excuse this time even more lame than the first), he got up the courage to walk into the dojo and ask Johnny in person about being on the board. Johnny laughed and told him to fuck off.

It was only after a little begging that Daniel managed to talk him into it. Even though they’d only seen each other a few times since the tournament, Daniel was learning that if he spoke in just the right tone he could get Johnny to do anything he asked. After all, no one would have thought Johnny Lawrence was eager to volunteer for his martial arts community, but he finally relented, and he even asked if he could accompany Daniel to find another member. It wasn’t totally selfless, of course, because Johnny wanted to check out the competition and the Topanga facility down in the south part of the Valley.

The two of them had just come from Topanga Karate, where they had managed to talk the sensei there into filling the other opening. The man had said yes and then heartily clapped Daniel on the back for “foster coaching” the unaffiliated kid from North Hills. Johnny wasn’t too happy about that part.

As they were driving away, Johnny asked Daniel if they could stop in the state park. For old times’ sake. Daniel shook his head.

“What?” Johnny asked, doing his best to look innocent.

“Do you want to build a bonfire and trash someone’s radio, too?”

“Nah, just be fun to see it again. Think about how we met….”

“Uh huh.”

“How you ate half the beach when I knocked you down…”

“Johnny, you’re pushing it.”

“Ok, all right,” he said, his arms wandering across the arm rest in the middle of the SUV. There was a Fiji water bottle in the cup holder, and he picked it up and turned it around in his hands. Daniel waited for him to comment on the six dollar water that his daughter bought and how she was spoiled and how it “must be nice” to spend money on something as stupid as bottled water.

He just put the bottle back and looked out the window.

They had just taken the boulevard to the public beach area when Johnny put his arm around Daniel’s shoulders and pointed, “Park here.”

Daniel pulled the SUV into a space facing the ocean. They got out of the car and walked to the wooden pathway leading down to the surf.

And there it was.

The beach in Malibu where he had met Ali. Where he played soccer with Freddy. And where he exchanged blows with Johnny for the first time. If anyone had told him he’d be back in 34 years with the guy who humiliated him on his second day in California, he would have, well, he would have laughed and refused to believe such a script was possible. Daniel’s adult life was too predictable for days like this one. And yet here he was.

Strangely enough he remembered that 34 years ago he had been staring at the beachside mansions on the shoreline, wondering if he’d ever see the inside of something so beautiful. At seventeen that was his idea of greener grass, but now Daniel wasn’t so sure what he felt about those mansions. Living in Encino had given him a home comparable in size, but he was still restless, almost as if there were another house somewhere, on another beach, that still managed to elude him.

The pathway ended, and the two men stepped into the sand. They stopped to take their shoes and socks off, Daniel tripping a little on the gentle slope down toward the water, Johnny holding his upper arm for a moment when it happened.

They walked until the waves lapped at their bare toes and stared out at the horizon. Just as it had that day, the sun was slowly dipping beneath the line where sky and sea met in the distance.

“I still can’t believe I live here,” Daniel said, holding his shoes and socks in his right hand and becoming still as a statue. Johnny remained silent at his side until he took Daniel’s shoes out of his hand and set both of their pairs down on a higher patch of sand. “Come on,” Johnny invited.

Shoes set aside, Johnny held out his hand. For a moment, Daniel hesitated. The sun was setting. Either he would or he wouldn’t be home for dinner. That hand would make the choice for him, and he would follow, but just in case the universe was handing out points for effort, he wanted it to see him pause.

Johnny smirked and pulled Daniel up the sand dune and then pulled him down to sit beside him, their legs flush with each other, both sets of elbows resting on their knees.

They looked out across the water, Johnny closing his eyes at the feel of the wind that moved his blonde hair back from his forehead. Daniel watched him and reached out to touch one of the strands that refused to lie flat. When Johnny eyes opened, awkwardness set in, and Daniel moved his arm back to his own lap.

“I used to bring my kid here,” Johnny said.

“To surf?”

“Yeah.”

There were several surfers out today, too, but they looked about ready to pack it in for the night. Both of them watched as the boards and wet suits moved slowly toward the parking lot.

They almost had the beach to themselves.

“I never taught my kids to surf,” Daniel conceded, “I never learned how.”

“Yeah, well, it’s good to know there’s one thing you can’t do.”

“One thing? There are plenty of things I can’t do.”

“Really.”

Daniel turned to look at Johnny as if to speak again, but then he came up short. He thought for an arrogant moment that Johnny was envious, but that wasn’t the case.

Johnny was looking at him with pride. “So that night you DIDN’T prove that you could play soccer, pick up women, AND make my life a living hell at the same time?” He bumped his shoulder against Daniel’s, invading his personal space, and in that moment they were both seventeen again.

“Your compliments make me a little nervous,” Daniel admitted.

“Why?”

He scoffed. “Gee, I don’t know, Johnny, maybe because in a few months you’ve gone from insulting me to praising me for…what exactly are you praising me for?”

“Making my life a living hell,” Johnny teased, his own hand winding snakelike between Daniel’s leg and lower arm until it found Daniel’s own hand and linked their fingers.

“Yeah, that,” Daniel said, his face simultaneously brightening and relaxing at the feel of those fingers back in his own. “Well, someone had to do it.”

“Not just anybody,” Johnny said. “Someone worthy.”

“Ha! So that’s how you’re spinning it now…”

“Not just now. Always.” Daniel’s breath caught even as he tried and failed to remain impervious to these statements, tried to pretend he was more occupied watching a sea gull dive into the water. He kept his eyes trained on the water.

“Look at me,” Johnny said softly. “Please.”

It was the please that got him in the end. Before he knew it his guard came down and Johnny moved in, gently pushing him back into the sand, his lips hovering just above Daniel’s own. His fingers never left Daniel’s hand. “I told you not to bury your head in the sand,” he scolded, almost under his breath.

“There’s plenty of sand here for both of us to get buried,” Daniel said. As charmed as he was, Daniel was wincing a little at the feeling of it getting inside his shirt, his hair, and even his ear. “Let me up.”

“Not yet.”

“Why do you have to be such a dick—“

“I want you to promise me something.”

Daniel stopped talking and looked up into blue eyes. “Ok,” he said cautiously.

“Promise me you won’t open another dojo.”

“Oh my god,” Daniel rolled his eyes. “Do you ever stop?”

“No, it’s not…I just…promise me that you’ll try teaching with me. Not against me. For just a few months.”

Daniel’s eyes widened. “Are you drunk?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

Daniel groaned. He tried to sit up but he couldn’t because Johnny leaned so close he was effectively pinning the other man to the beach. Daniel sighed and accepted it. He saw how some sand had stuck inside the neck of Johnny’s red t-shirt. His hand went up to brush it off, and then it stayed there, lightly stroking the skin.

“Just promise me you’ll try,” Johnny said. He leaned down and brushed his lips against Daniel’s, and then moving back an inch to look at his expression.

“I—“

Johnny leaned back in, and his lips tugged on Daniel’s lower lip until he felt that the jaw relax and open to his kiss. Daniel let Johnny in, tasting him, and drawing him deeper. He heard a soft moan and had no idea if it came from him or the man above him. Finally he broke the kiss to gasp for air, and his head fell back farther in the sand. Johnny kissed along the pulse on his neck, lingering there, laving the skin but stopping before it left any mark.

Daniel tried to remember the question. “I don’t think we…” But then the kiss returned to his lips, effectively shutting him up. He moaned at the feeling of losing his ability to speak, of having to succumb to Johnny’s will, if only for another moment. Their legs tangled, and Daniel felt sand slide everywhere, like quicksand now, trapping them as they sunk into each other and the earth.

Johnny moved his lips to Daniel’s ear. “Please,” he whispered, the word again melting any vestige of resistance. Daniel nodded, although he couldn’t remember what exactly he was agreeing to.

“Yes.”

Johnny moved back to look at Daniel’s face. “You mean it?”

Daniel nodded, Johnny still searching his face for any signs of a fight. “We can try,” he added.

Johnny suddenly sat up, the sand from his clothes blowing on Daniel, causing him to cough. “You’re not just saying that because we’re making out….?”

“Well, that didn’t hurt your case, no,” he admitted. He pulled himself up, feeling half the beach slip between his dress sleeves and his fingers. “This time you really DID make me eat half the beach…”

“Larusso, I swear if you are bullshitting me…”

“I’m not.”

“So you’re sure?”

“No, but I’m not sure about any of this. And that hasn’t stopped me.”

Johnny shook his head but grinned. “There’s sand all in your hair. I mean everywhere.”

“Thanks, I didn’t notice.” Daniel shook himself off as he stood up and then held out his hand.

Johnny let the brunette pull him to a standing position. They regarded each other for a moment, and then Johnny reached for Daniel and pulled him into a tight embrace.

By the time they let go, it was almost dark, and some teenagers were starting a bonfire nearby. A sort of early July 4th celebration, perhaps.

They went to fetch their shoes.


End file.
